Demand Generation vs. Lead Generation

Lead generation is just one component of a demand generation strategy.

A simple way to put it is this: lead generation (or lead gen for the cool kids) is finding customers likely to buy your product or service, whereas demand generation is actually getting those customers to do that repeatedly and consistently.

The biggest challenge with demand generation is selling people a product they don’t think they need, so a lot of the work is centered around: (1) convincing them they need your product or service, and (2) convincing them that you’re the best of all the options available.

Here are some proven demand generation programs to help you do just that.

1. Give Before You Take

Some brands are like vampires—they suck the life out of customers and disappear after they’ve made a sale.

Don’t do that

The key to successful demand generation and establishing loyalty, trust, and understanding with your customers is by giving before taking. That is, by providing value long before you’ve made a sale. This signals that you care and it’s also a great opportunity to showcase some cool things about your brand.

One of the easiest ways to do this is by using a lead magnet.

A lead magnet is an incentive you give customers in exchange for their contact information.

Examples of lead magnets include content like e-books or white papers, promos like coupons and discounts, or even free versions of products and services.

This strategy is particularly effective for SaaS companies like Spotify and Netflix, who offer free trials and free versions to get potential customers on board then upsell along the way.

It’s like dating—you get to see what a person is like before committing long term.

Just how effective are lead magnets? Count the number of paid Spotify and Netflix subscribers.

2. Try Facebook Lookalike Audiences

What does a potential customer look like? Chances are, they look just like your old customers.

Facebook has something called lookalike audiences, which allows you to send ads to people who resemble your existing customers.

Just go to Facebook Ads Manager > Audiences. Under the Create Audience dropdown and select Lookalike Audience. You can create a lookalike audience based on your Facebook pixel data, mobile app data, or even an existing customer database (which you can upload in csv or xlsx format).

3. Let Influencers Do The Influencing

Back in the day, big name celebrities used to drive brands. Today, people want authenticity and attainability—they’d rather listen to people who look like them.

Influencer marketing has proven effective for the millennial demographic. A Shareableesurvey found 22% of people aged 18-24 made a large purchase after seeing an influencer endorse a product.

Image by Marketing Charts

Here are the top reasons influencers, erm, influence people:

They are honest about their beliefs and opinions

They seem knowledgeable about the topics they discuss

They share the same passions and interests with their followers

One thing to remember when choosing an influencer. Choose people who align with your brand over those with lots of followers—a thousand engaged followers are far more valuable than a million passive ones.

An important thing to note when it comes to emails: test often and learn quickly. Email marketing like other channels can benefit from constant tweaking. See what works and what doesn’t by A/B testing a variety of factors like your audiences, subject lines, text, and CTAs.

If you A/B test fast and often, you’ll eventually arrive at an email that’s on the money…until a better option pops up again.

5. Create Content That Adds Value

Blogging is an effective and tasteful way to convey expertise and establish thought leadership in your domain. It’s also a good platform for responding to your potential customers’ most burning concerns.

A thoughtful and well-placed piece of content can go a long way. In fact, brands that blog are 13 times more likely to see positive ROI and 5 times more likely to convert a customer (HubSpot).

There are three secrets to good blogging: relevance, timeliness, and distribution.

First, blog about something your customers might be concerned about. For example, if you sell handmade knives, your customers might want to know what makes a good knife; or if you’re in the business of digital marketing, they may be interested in a cool article on demand generation (ahem, ahem).

Second, make sure your content is timely. In the digital world, evolution is the norm: either you keep moving or fall off the map. One smart strategy is to produce evergreen content or content that isn’t time-bound or tied to a fad—think exhaustive how-to guides and white papers.

Last, make sure your content is right where people can see it. How you distribute content is just as important as the content itself. You could have the most awesome blog but if there’s no one visiting, you’re just wasting your time. Here’s a cool content distribution guide by The Neil Patel.

BONUS: Implement A Lead Scoring System

The late-great Peter Drucker once told us, “what gets measured, gets managed.” It’s a tired old quote, but there’s a reason people always go back to it.

If you want to run a successful demand generation program, make sure you keep track of your leads or, better yet, implement a lead scoring system.

What is lead scoring?

Lead scoring is the practice of ranking leads in order of importance (i.e. separating high-value leads from low-value leads). Leads are often ranked by their likelihood to purchase based on a combination of demographic (age, sex, civil status), behavioral (purchase patterns, social media activity, website behavior), psychographic (brand preferences, price sensitivity, political beliefs), and environmental (culture, place of residence, languages spoken) factors.

Koka Sexton

Koka Sexton is a renowned expert in social selling. Some would say Koka Sexton is the reason social selling exists, he would say that social selling existed once buyers went online.
A recognized expert in social selling that has produced revenue for B2B companies, Koka continues to make generating new business the focus of social media.
Finding creative ways to plan, develop and execute content marketing campaigns that break through the noise and provide value to buyers in excess of what they expect.